Steam overcharges me sales tax and says they cant do anything about it and closed my ticket on me

[Akoi]

Steam overcharges me sales tax and says they cant do anything about it and closed my ticket on me.
I live in WA state, I recently bought a game for $19.99 and noticed the sales tax I was being charged was higher than it should be. (10.5% vs 9.3%)

I then made a ticket telling steam support about the issue and I get a runaround about how I need to contact my state tax authorities (which makes no sense) and they cant do anything about it. They also said "This issue has been fixed going forward" which was a lie because I tested it today and it is still overcharging me on sales tax.

They then force closed the ticket saying"If you have questions on an unrelated issue, please create a new help request and we will be happy to help you."

What the heck steam? I have been a steam member since 2003 and now all of the sudden you are overcharging me for sales tax

(yes I know its not a massive overcharge but it adds up and its not right to overcharge and then tell a customer sorry cant do anything about it)

Not sure what to do since they dont seem to care that they are overcharging me for sales tax, I sent them even a screenshot from the WA department of revenue showing my tax rate and they didnt seem to care about that.

Has anyone else seen anything like this before and what did they do?

[wuddih]

the state code in included at checkout on in the receipt email. which is it?

WA?
CA?

[Hanomaly]

Google seems to think depending on where you live in Washington State your total taxes on sale of some items could be upwards of 10.5%

Are you sure your payment method or home location is not in one of these counties/cities where the rate is higher than where you are used to? Or maybe you moved recently to a new city within your own state and didn't realise your sales tax amount may change?

i'm no tax expert! i just did a fast google, so my results may be wrong. Just leaving you links to stuff i found:

1. https://www.avalara.com/taxrates/en/state-rates/washington.html
2. https://myintegrityaccounting.com/2019/01/03/snohomish-county-sales-tax-2019-guide/
3. https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Docs/forms/ExcsTx/LocSalUseTx/LocalSlsUseFlyer_19_Q1_alpha.pdf

The second link shows just Snohomish County, but then that page has a link to the 3rd thing i linked to that goes to a pdf of all Washington Cities.. and their fluctuating rates depending on the city/county you're in.

So Washington State sales tax is complicated. The state itself is doing 0.065 or 6.5% but then each county/city within the state has it's own additional sales tax on top of that.. and that fluctuates from city to city with the state. So parts of Washington state pay 7% total sales tax while other parts pay 10.5% ... and then there's everything in between... 8.2% some places... 9.3% ... etc

[Akoi]

Originally posted by wuddih:

the state code in included at checkout on in the receipt email. which is it?

WA?
CA?

it just says (WA)

Originally posted by Hanomaly:

Google seems to think depending on where you live in Washington State your total taxes on sale of some items could be upwards of 10.5%

Are you sure your payment method or home location is not in one of these counties/cities where the rate is higher than where you are used to? Or maybe you moved recently to a new city within your own state and didn't realise your sales tax amount may change?

i'm no tax expert! i just did a fast google, so my results may be wrong. Just leaving you links to stuff i found:

1. https://www.avalara.com/taxrates/en/state-rates/washington.html
2. https://myintegrityaccounting.com/2019/01/03/snohomish-county-sales-tax-2019-guide/
3. https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Docs/forms/ExcsTx/LocSalUseTx/LocalSlsUseFlyer_19_Q1_alpha.pdf

The second link shows just Snohomish County, but then that page has a link to the 3rd thing i linked to that goes to a pdf of all Washington Cities.. and their fluctuating rates depending on the city/county you're in.

So Washington State sales tax is complicated. The state itself is doing 0.065 or 6.5% but then each county/city within the state has it's own additional sales tax on top of that.. and that fluctuates from city to city with the state. So parts of Washington state pay 7% total sales tax while other parts pay 10.5% ... and then there's everything in between... 8.2% some places... 9.3% ... etc

Yeah if I lived just a mile to the east I would be paying 7.9% sales tax, I pay 9.3% currently and I have lived in the same house for over 5 years (my previous residence was just a few miles away with the same 9.3% sales tax rate before that)

Looking back now last year (the last time I have really bought anything here) they charged me around 9.8%, before that it was 8.8% (mind you I havent moved and my billing address has not changed) and now this year they are charging me 10.5% (the highest rate in the state and I live in a more rural area so our tax rate is lower here)

I sent them a photo of a tax page from the dor.wa.gov site with my address in it and it says .093 on it (9.3%)

when I buy things from anywhere else they usually charge me 9.3% or lower (because again like you said WA state tax zones are a mess) but steam is the only one I have seen that overcharges me.

[Darren]

This appears to be extremely complicated, but Steam might actually be doing it correctly. Because you are purchasing digital goods and Steam actually is headquartered in Washington state the location of the seller actually takes effect not the buyer (similar to if you went into a retail store). But this is the most complicated and convoluted tax arrangement I've ever seen.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Darren:

This appears to be extremely complicated, but Steam might actually be doing it correctly. Because you are purchasing digital goods and Steam actually is headquartered in Washington state the location of the seller actually takes effect not the buyer (similar to if you went into a retail store). But this is the most complicated and convoluted tax arrangement I've ever seen.

This might be hitting the nail on the head.

It may be that the charge is from the point of sale - Valve's end, rather than your home location. It'd be a bit weird, but it might be the case.

[Hangy]

While that's a great thought, it's not correct. I currently live in WV with a statewide sales tax of 6%. I went to buy something for $10, and correctly saw a total price of $10.60. I had a small issue with checkout and when I rectified it and came back to purchase the same item, I was suddenly being charged $10.70. Steam support did the same thing with my ticket.... telling me to contact my local tax authority for a refund. To me, this just seems like valve is intentionally overcharging on tax maybe in the hopes that most people won't bother to try to get a ten cent refund. Regardless, as big as steam is, to have such pathetic customer support and no way to report the bad support a customer gets, all of that coupled with repetitive overcharging on sales tax while dodging responsibility, I am quickly losing faith in steam, and valve.

[Sarumoon]

Man... There is no tax on steam in Canada. It has to do with they dont have any physical presence in Canada so we can't charge them tax. Also our Gov't is asleep, i'm sure they never even heard of Steam. They could've collected a Billion $ if they bothered. Iv'e spent 5-10 G on steam in 10 years and never paid a dime. Too late now lol. Origin charges tax here, and Uplay. And MS.

BTY, get yer ♥♥♥♥ together down there ok? I'm in B.C., way too many cases down south, maybe time to get rid of the stupid orange monster.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by Sarumoon:

Man... There is no tax on steam in Canada. It has to do with they dont have any physical presence in Canada so we can't charge them tax. Also our Gov't is asleep, i'm sure they never even heard of Steam. They could've collected a Billion $ if they bothered. Iv'e spent 5-10 G on steam in 10 years and never paid a dime. Too late now lol. Origin charges tax here, and Uplay. And MS.

BTY, get yer ♥♥♥♥ together down there ok? I'm in B.C., way too many cases down south, maybe time to get rid of the stupid orange monster.

Take your politics to reddit.

[Akoi]

Originally posted by Hangy:

While that's a great thought, it's not correct. I currently live in WV with a statewide sales tax of 6%. I went to buy something for $10, and correctly saw a total price of $10.60. I had a small issue with checkout and when I rectified it and came back to purchase the same item, I was suddenly being charged $10.70. Steam support did the same thing with my ticket.... telling me to contact my local tax authority for a refund. To me, this just seems like valve is intentionally overcharging on tax maybe in the hopes that most people won't bother to try to get a ten cent refund. Regardless, as big as steam is, to have such pathetic customer support and no way to report the bad support a customer gets, all of that coupled with repetitive overcharging on sales tax while dodging responsibility, I am quickly losing faith in steam, and valve.

Yeah I wonder how widespread this is and how many people arent noticing it, seems like a lame excuse by support and no way this would fly in a physical store.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Shadowhunter:

Originally posted by Hangy:

While that's a great thought, it's not correct. I currently live in WV with a statewide sales tax of 6%. I went to buy something for $10, and correctly saw a total price of $10.60. I had a small issue with checkout and when I rectified it and came back to purchase the same item, I was suddenly being charged $10.70. Steam support did the same thing with my ticket.... telling me to contact my local tax authority for a refund. To me, this just seems like valve is intentionally overcharging on tax maybe in the hopes that most people won't bother to try to get a ten cent refund. Regardless, as big as steam is, to have such pathetic customer support and no way to report the bad support a customer gets, all of that coupled with repetitive overcharging on sales tax while dodging responsibility, I am quickly losing faith in steam, and valve.

Yeah I wonder how widespread this is and how many people arent noticing it, seems like a lame excuse by support and no way this would fly in a physical store.

Thing is, to play devil's advocate a bit here, this is one of the things that you can't compare with a physical store, simply because physical stores do not generally sell to the world in person.

[Hanomaly]

Originally posted by Hangy:

While that's a great thought, it's not correct. I currently live in WV with a statewide sales tax of 6%. I went to buy something for $10, and correctly saw a total price of $10.60. I had a small issue with checkout and when I rectified it and came back to purchase the same item, I was suddenly being charged $10.70. Steam support did the same thing with my ticket.... telling me to contact my local tax authority for a refund. To me, this just seems like valve is intentionally overcharging on tax maybe in the hopes that most people won't bother to try to get a ten cent refund. Regardless, as big as steam is, to have such pathetic customer support and no way to report the bad support a customer gets, all of that coupled with repetitive overcharging on sales tax while dodging responsibility, I am quickly losing faith in steam, and valve.

You should read the links i posted above.

It is true that the state wide sales tax in washington state is 6%
However each county and even city in washington state has it's own fluctuating DIFFERENT sales tax added on top of that.

So that some areas of Washington State have a 7% sales tax and some areas have almost a 16% sales tax on items.

So look at the links i posted or google what the sales tax is in the city/county your Payment Method is registered to. Or even the sales tax of the county/city your IP comes back from.

That could be affecting your sales tax.

And i think it's insane to blame Valve for the crazy way Washington state & counties/cities do sales tax!!

A real physical store doesn't have this problem because a physical store is in 1 location. It doesn't have to worry about charging someone in Vancouver a different tax rate than someone in Seattle.. or whatever because a physical store just charges the sales tax of the actual location of the brick and mortar building.

Online transactions can be more complicated.

Like literally this is your state .gov site -
https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Docs/forms/ExcsTx/LocSalUseTx/LocalSlsUseFlyer_19_Q1_alpha.pdf

There are like 100 different sales tax percentages spread across various areas of Washington State. It's crazy!!! Like every city and town has it's own rate. It's nutty!

[Akoi]

Originally posted by Hanomaly:

Originally posted by Hangy:

While that's a great thought, it's not correct. I currently live in WV with a statewide sales tax of 6%. I went to buy something for $10, and correctly saw a total price of $10.60. I had a small issue with checkout and when I rectified it and came back to purchase the same item, I was suddenly being charged $10.70. Steam support did the same thing with my ticket.... telling me to contact my local tax authority for a refund. To me, this just seems like valve is intentionally overcharging on tax maybe in the hopes that most people won't bother to try to get a ten cent refund. Regardless, as big as steam is, to have such pathetic customer support and no way to report the bad support a customer gets, all of that coupled with repetitive overcharging on sales tax while dodging responsibility, I am quickly losing faith in steam, and valve.

You should read the links i posted above.

It is true that the state wide sales tax in washington state is 6%
However each county and even city in washington state has it's own fluctuating DIFFERENT sales tax added on top of that.

So that some areas of Washington State have a 7% sales tax and some areas have almost a 16% sales tax on items.

So look at the links i posted or google what the sales tax is in the city/county your Payment Method is registered to. Or even the sales tax of the county/city your IP comes back from.

That could be affecting your sales tax.

And i think it's insane to blame Valve for the crazy way Washington state & counties/cities do sales tax!!

A real physical store doesn't have this problem because a physical store is in 1 location. It doesn't have to worry about charging someone in Vancouver a different tax rate than someone in Seattle.. or whatever because a physical store just charges the sales tax of the actual location of the brick and mortar building.

Online transactions can be more complicated.

Like literally this is your state .gov site -
https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Docs/forms/ExcsTx/LocSalUseTx/LocalSlsUseFlyer_19_Q1_alpha.pdf

There are like 100 different sales tax percentages spread across various areas of Washington State. It's crazy!!! Like every city and town has it's own rate. It's nutty!

Yeah but literally no other online store other than steam overcharges me for sales tax, amazon is also based in WA and they don't do it to me (I buy physical and digital goods there all the time...) and I do tons of online business elsewhere and never get overcharged.

No city within a 20 mile radius from me has sales tax higher than 9.5% and valve is charging me 10.5% which no city within 40 miles from me even has.

I lived in the same tax/zipcode my whole life. My billing address when you look it up is what I stated 9.3% and my credit cards are tied to that address and that like I stated has never changed.

Valve is a WA based business the tax craziness here isnt something new to them. Like I said there are many WA based businesses (Microsoft, Amazon, Etc) and none of them overcharge me.

[crunchyfrog]

@Shadowhunter, one small point.

I'd urge caution using the "others don't do this" argument. While that may be true, it doesn't mean they're correct.

Especially with companies like Amazon who gets tax breaks out the wazzoo. It could be they're absorbing the small bits of tax rather than bother to work them out properly. And when you don't pay tax because of the underhand deals you make, all the more reason to.

So, just be cautious of that approach.

[Akoi]

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

@Shadowhunter, one small point.

I'd urge caution using the "others don't do this" argument. While that may be true, it doesn't mean they're correct.

Especially with companies like Amazon who gets tax breaks out the wazzoo. It could be they're absorbing the small bits of tax rather than bother to work them out properly. And when you don't pay tax because of the underhand deals you make, all the more reason to.

So, just be cautious of that approach.

I mean everyone else under the moon either charges me 9.3% (like they should) or less (because they dont know what they are doing) and then there's Steam that overcharges me. (only place I have found that overcharges me and like I said I do tons of business online)

The legal and accurate tax rate that I should be taxed according to my location is 9.3% anything more than that is wrong and should be corrected.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Shadowhunter:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

@Shadowhunter, one small point.

I'd urge caution using the "others don't do this" argument. While that may be true, it doesn't mean they're correct.

Especially with companies like Amazon who gets tax breaks out the wazzoo. It could be they're absorbing the small bits of tax rather than bother to work them out properly. And when you don't pay tax because of the underhand deals you make, all the more reason to.

So, just be cautious of that approach.

I mean everyone else under the moon either charges me 9.3% (like they should) or less (because they dont know what they are doing) and then there's Steam that overcharges me. (only place I have found that overcharges me and like I said I do tons of business online)

The legal and accurate tax rate that I should be taxed according to my location is 9.3% anything more than that is wrong and should be corrected.

That's fair enough. I was being rather pedantic, not just for argument's sake, but just because I'm keenly aware how quickly loonies run away with the wrong end of the stick on here and another urban myth is born :)